Redfinch revitalizes mid-infrared detection technology

Categorie(s) :
Innovation & Society, News, Research

Published : 3 December 2018

Leti will unveil the initial results of the EU Redfinch project, which it is coordinating, at Photonics West in San Francisco in early February. The project is developing a new generation of optical sensors to detect chemicals in gases and liquids. The mid-infrared sensors operate at wavelengths between 2 microns and 20 microns and are combined with quantum cascade lasers to obtain a spectrometer. The cost of the future system should be less than a tenth that of current systems for the same levels of performance.

The key to the advance will be photonic integrated circuits designed by Leti and fabricated in the institute’s 200 mm cleanroom. The developments made under the Redfinch project will target three applications: process gas analysis for refineries; gas leak detection for the petrochemical industry; and protein analysis for the dairy industry.